Last-Tear Poa hypes herself up as LSU star showcases incredible performance during matchup against Alabama: "Fearless, gritty, tough"
LSU junior guard Last-Tear Poa was instrumental in the No. 13 Tigers' 85-66 second-half comeback win against the Alabama Crimson Tide on Sunday.
The junior guard, who registered 11 points, six rebounds and four assists during the game, shared a reel on her Instagram page celebrating that sensational performance.
"Fearless. Gritty. Tough," the post's caption read.
The stats back claims made by Last-Tear Poa
With Last-Tear Poa seemingly agreeing with people describing her as tough and gritty, the statistics also seem to bear that claim out.
Earlier in the year, Poa's LSU teammate Angel Reese retweeted a tweet on X showing that Poa had taken 16 charges in just 21 games, displaying how committed she is to her craft.
“She doesn’t get enough credit for what she does," Reese wrote. "OUR GLUE. She sacrifices her body for us every game. We don’t win without Poa!!!”
The post in question reads:
“You ever wondered why 'charges' aren’t officially tracked or counted towards a player’s stat sheet? Our guess would be that players don’t take enough of them regularly. But not Poa; she’s averaging just over 1 a game this season. It takes a tough individual to take 21 charges in just 16 games into the season. Let’s give Last-Tear her credit!”
LSU coach Kim Mulkey highlighted just how vital Last-Tear Poa has become to the team and how the grit and commitment she is known for translates to the court.
On Sunday, the LSU Tigers trailed the Alabama Crimson Tide 41-31 at halftime, which was their biggest deficit this season, and with their season hanging by a balance, Mulkey made a key change.
She brought on Last-Tear Poa, and the Tigers outscored the Tide 54-25 in the second half to romp to an easy victory.
During her postgame news conference, Mulkey explained just how vital Poa's contribution has been.
“I think [Poa] is playing with a lot of confidence and the 11-press is what made me change the lineup,” Kim Mulkey said. “She is really good as the protector in the back of that press and when we pressed very little last year, I always wanted Poa in there instead of Alexis Morris.
"She just has great anticipation skills and she got to start the second half and then she did some things really, really good defensively that kept her on that floor. And that is Poa’s game. And when you’re confident, you want to stay on that floor and obviously your play dictates you stay on that floor.”
Last-Tear Poa might have just carved out her own niche in this star-studded LSU team with her grit and toughness.